Geode Capital Management LLC Has $172.65 Million Stock Position in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 626,810 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 34,032 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Acuity Brands were worth $172,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Acuity Brands by 517.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 105 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Acuity Brands during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Acuity Brands in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Acuity Brands by 229.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 244 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 98.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Acuity Brands

In other news, SVP Barry R. Goldman sold 5,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $1,561,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,573,590. This represents a 37.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AYI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Acuity Brands from $315.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $289.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Acuity Brands from $266.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Acuity Brands from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Acuity Brands from $280.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Acuity Brands presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.00.

Acuity Brands Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AYI opened at $317.74 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $315.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.73. Acuity Brands, Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.38 and a twelve month high of $337.99.

Acuity Brands (NYSE:AYI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The electronics maker reported $4.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.90 by $0.40. Acuity Brands had a return on equity of 20.49% and a net margin of 11.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Acuity Brands, Inc. will post 15.51 EPS for the current year.

Acuity Brands Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Acuity Brands’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.46%.

Acuity Brands Company Profile

Acuity Brands, Inc provides lighting, lighting controls, building management system, location-aware applications in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Acuity Brands Lighting and Lighting Controls (ABL); and the Intelligent Spaces Group (ISG). The ABL segment provides commercial, architectural, and specialty lighting solutions, as well as lighting controls and components for various indoor and outdoor applications under the A-Light, Aculux, American Electric Lighting, Cyclone, Dark to Light, eldoLED, Eureka, Gotham, Healthcare Lighting, Holophane, Hydrel, Indy, IOTA, Juno, Lithonia Lighting, Luminaire LED, Luminis, Mark Architectural Lighting, nLight, OPTOTRONIC, Peerless, RELOCWiring Solutions, and Sensor Switch.